Beast rolls his eyes, but he extends his hand. “Fair enough, brother.” Then he looks at me. “Take care of him for me.”

“I will. What about Izzie?”

“Izzie left me,” he says. “She only wanted a prince. If she really loved me, the curse would have been broken. She was only pretending.”

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm sure I can do better." He motions for me and Gabriel to follow him to the edge of the tower.

Izzie and my father are stuffing silver and expensive wares into their bags.

“We need to get the hell out of here and fast,” Izzie says. “There’s no happily ever after for me here.”

“I think we have more than enough to make bargains until we reach someplace nicer.” My father holds up a golden clock. “Are you sure the Beast is dead?”

“Saw him get struck by lightning and bleed out with my own eyes.” She doesn’t even shed a tear. “I was so close, Daddy. So close.”

“I know.” He pats her shoulder. “The next one will be the charm.”

“Belle is still up there,” she says. “If you want to say goodbye.”

“Ha! Good one.” He mounts his horse, and she follows suit.

The two of them ride down the steps and to the causeway, straight into the woods, never once looking back.

“Like I was saying…” Beast shakes his head and walks away. “I think I can do better.”

“Lafayette?” Gabriel calls.

“Yes, Boss?” He moves forward, juggling a child on his hip. “What do you need?”

“Don’t let Isabelle Arwyn and her father get too far,” he says. “Have them brought to me for punishment.”

“Two steps ahead of you. Four troops are waiting for them in the woods.”

He nods. “Thank you.”

“Punishment?” I look up at him. “What are you planning to do?”

“Make them pay you back for all the shit they put you through,” he says, his voice flat. “Or they can pay their debt back to me with day labor by building me a new bridge by themselves. I’ll let them choose.”

“You don’t have to do that,” I say. “They’re bound to hurt the wrong person eventually and get in trouble.”

“They already did.” He narrows his eyes. “You, and that hurts me.”

“But Gabriel—”

“Shhh.” He kisses me. “I’ve wasted enough of our time together on your sister. It’s time for us to focus on our own happily ever after…”

Tale as Old as Time

The End

^BELLE

Eight weeks later

The space behind the grand ballroom is full of bright red roses that are waiting to be plucked and hung for this morning’s wedding ceremony.

Staff move in and out of the room, fluffing the tendrils of my hair, powdering my face, and massaging my shoulders to relax me.

The growing roar from the crowd outside is causing knots in my stomach, and I’ve done everything in my power to drag out my first appearance.